Brenda J Overturf - Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary

Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary

Brenda J. Overturf Leslie H. Montgomery Margot Holmes Smith

Stenhouse Publishers
www.stenhouse.com

Copyright 2013 by Brenda J. Overturf, Leslie H. Montgomery, and Margot Holmes Smith

All rights reserved. Except for the pages in the appendix, which may be photocopied for classroom use, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders and students for permission to reproduce borrowed material. We regret any oversights that may have occurred and will be pleased to rectify them in subsequent reprints of the work.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Overturf, Brenda J.

Word nerds : teaching all students to learn and love vocabulary / Brenda J. Overturf, Leslie H. Montgomery, and Margot Holmes Smith.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57110-954-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-57110-979-8 (e-book) 1. Vocabulary--Study and teaching. I. Montgomery, Leslie H., 1949- II. Holmes Smith, Margot. III. Title.

LB1574.5.O84 2013

372.44--dc23

2012037542

Cover photograph by Angela Shoemaker

Cover design, interior design, and typesetting by designboy Creative Group

Manufactured in the United States of America

19 18 17 16 15 14 13 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For our students,
who continue to inspire us
every day

No book happens without the support and encouragement of others. We were lucky enough to have a wonderful principal, Dr. Dewey Hensley, who believed in us and expected us to change the lives of our students. We will be forever grateful to him and his confidence in our kids. Our literacy coach, Lori Atherton, has been an amazing source of ideas, information, and support. Thank you to Ashlee Kemper, our colleague and cheerleader, for demonstrating that strategic vocabulary instruction can work with early primary English learners. We would like to thank Holly Holland, our editor-extraordinaire at Sten-house, as well as Philippa Stratton, Stenhouses editorial director, whose enthusiasm for this project, encouragement to blend our voices, and close attention to detail made this a better book. We are grateful to our colleagues in the literacy field who have researched and written about vocabulary instruction, and provided a solid base for this work. Finally, we truly appreciate our colleagues at Atkinson, the University of Louisville, Jefferson County Public Schools, and surrounding school districts who have supported us and believed in thoughtful and intentional vocabulary instruction for student success.

Brenda: I would like to thank my daughter, Whitney, for inspiring me with her insatiable love for life and teaching me what it means to be an author, and my son, Drew, for his adventurous spirit and reminding me to always, always dream big. I am grateful to my parents, Paul and Nancy Scott, and my sisters, Dana Latorre and Karen Small, for being proud of my accomplishments and supporting my professional life. My coauthors, Leslie and Margot, are not only two of the most talented teachers I know but also delightful to work with. Thanks go to Jill Wells, for her help with the beginning research on this book, and to Trish Priddy, for her close review of and enthusiasm for the manuscript. But mostly I would like to thank Jim, who understood my writing schedule even when it kept me locked in my office, and who always made sure I had that little dish of ice cream when I really needed it.

Leslie: Thank you to my teacher parents (my dad, Martin Montgomery, my mom, Linda Brumback, and my second mother, Peggy Yusk) for instilling in me my passion for teaching and my work ethic. I am who I am because of the love, humor, and support of my sisters, Lisa Potter and Leah McMahan, and their families. I am grateful to Margot Holmes Smith, my dear friend and colleague, for never giving up, validating ALL of my emotions, and keeping us laughing! Thank you to Brenda Overturf for insisting that this book become a reality and always believing in us. To all of my friends who have put up with me while I have been on this teaching journey, you truly are the best! I will be forever grateful for my first group of students at Atkinson, who touched me so deeply with their courage, wit, and beautiful hearts. They always motivated me to grow as an educator to meet their needs. Thank you to Stacie, Demetria, Madison, Olivia, Dante, Katlin, Alexis, Daniel, Tristen, Todd, Davion, Tayaunna, Charron, Alfontanae, DeJaynae, and all of my students throughout the years!

Margot: First, I would like to thank my two beautiful twin daughters, Jordynn and Jalynn, for inspiring me to step outside of my comfort zone and soar to new heights in my career. Next, I would like to thank my parents and brother for always supporting and encouraging me to be the best that I can be. I would like to thank my husband, Ronnie, for being the one to encourage me to go back to school and earn my degree in teaching. I would also like to thank my friend and colleague Leslie Montgomery for embarking on this teaching journey with me. Thank you for always being patient and flexible during the most challenging times of our careers. Thank you for not letting me give up at times when I felt I could not do this anymore. I would like to thank Brenda for seeing my potential as an educator and for providing opportunities that have allowed me to grow professionally and personally. Finally, I would like to thank my students for allowing me to try new things and learn and grow from my mistakes. Never let anyone stop you from achieving your dreams and reaching your highest potential. Remember to never say cant, because you CAN!

I scurried down the hallway at Atkinson Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning toward Margot Holmess third-grade classroom on an early November day. Colorful samples of student work decorated the halls, and out in the paved courtyard vibrant leaves whirled and danced. Margot had prepared me for my visit to her classroom in an impoverished urban neighborhood, telling me that she and her students would be working on vocabulary instruction. I slipped into the room, expecting to see a good but isolated vocabulary activity, the type of lesson I usually saw when teachers told me they were doing vocabulary. This time was much different, however.

Margot greeted me with a nod and went on with her lesson. Students began to smile in anticipation as Margot projected a screen saver of multicolored wavy lines on the electronic whiteboard at the front of the room. When she clicked on the sound function on her laptop, a rap beat permeated the classroom and the wavy lines pulsated in time to the music. Students started tapping their feet, clapping their hands, and swaying their bodies to the music. Margot called out, Dont forget, first we are doing the synonyms and then the antonyms.

She started a rap in time to the music. Margot called out the first part of each verse, and the students finished the phrase by shouting the synonym or example of the word. It went like this:

When I say DIVERSITY,